


Miss Popularity

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Comfort No Hurt, F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, Holding Hands, Insecurity, Popularity Contest, Pre-Femslash, everyone loves the gatekeeper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29432412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: She didn't see the harm in a silly little popularity poll. Especially when the majority of the voters happened to be right.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33
Collections: Femslash February, femslashficlets





	Miss Popularity

**Author's Note:**

> With love to Choose Your Legends 2021.

Sometimes Hilda wonders if she's the only one besides Lorenz who enjoys the concept of popularity contests. The one the Officers Academy recently had wasn't official; no campaigns, no speeches, no victory ball for afterwards. Just two boxes outside the training grounds followed by ballot counting. The majority of the students didn't care for them, and most of the faculty criticized them for being mean and unfair and inviting hurt feelings.

(If they were really so Concerned, though, they'd have stopped it before it even started. Sometimes Hilda thinks most of the faculty are even lazier than her. It's so easy to criticize, but apparently it's too hard to _do_ something about it. Either that or they're secretly hoping people vote for _them_. She's sure Professor Manuela is, anyway.)

Of course there are hurt feelings involved when the results go up. Lorenz is positively _outraged_ that Claude could win "Our King" for the Golden Deer class, especially when his noble self is at the bottom and didn't even make the top ten overall. Hubert is looking especially murderous over the fact that Edelgard ranked below Dorothea for the Black Eagles, but is pleased that Ferdinand placed lower for males overall. And how did the Gatekeeper beat Dimitri for males overall?! Sure, he's _nice,_ but he's no one that special. Not that Hilda would've voted for Dimitri, but she's seen the way people fawn over the guy.

And then there's the winner of the female division, "The Academy Sweetheart." Marianne placing above the likes of Mercedes and Flayn is unexpected, but hardly the big surprise some people take it as. Luckily there's no catty whining from certain girls Hilda doesn't like, or she would have to hit them. And that would just embarrass Marianne more.

"T-there must be some mistake..." Marianne covers her bright red face with one hand, the other twisting and pulling at her skirt. "I can't _possibly_...there's no _way!_ " Hilda, who would have been disappointed at the lack of awards or celebration afterwards had she won, is suddenly glad none of these are happening.

In her book, Marianne _deserves_ to win. Not that Mercedes and Flayn aren't sweet, but as someone who's getting to know the real Marianne more every day, Hilda can safely say she _is_ a sweetheart. Maybe she's not great with people, but there's so much more about her that she didn't think people realized, but clearly they do and that makes them smarter than Hilda assumed they were.

"I don't deserve this," Marianne mutters as the chatter and applause continue, and Hilda takes her hand, leading her away from the courtyard and towards the cathedral. It's always quiet there, and it's the place Marianne feels most comfortable aside from the stables.

"You deserve it," Hilda says, holding both her hands once they're safely inside. "You deserve every vote you got, and those people have-"

"Hilda, please," Marianne whimpers, "I know you're just trying to help, but..." She shakes her head. "Maybe they all felt sorry for me. I'm _not_ sweet, I'm always avoiding people."

"But that doesn't mean nobody likes you," Hilda objects. "I think most of those votes came from people who want to get to know you better. Or don't _care_ if you never talk to people because they see how nice you are with the animals and the flowers. And you're never _mean_ to anyone." She shrugs. "Then again, I'm not a mind-reader, so who knows why people voted? The point is they did."

"Then I wish I could be _happy_ about it like a normal person," Marianne sighs. "I know I'm always gloomy and wallowing about everything."

"Well...maybe it needs to sink in first." Hilda shrugs. "But if it helps, I think the voters all have _very_ good taste. And if any Eagles, Deer, Lions, or Wolves were allowed to vote, I'd have been the first one to vote for you." Marianne blushes again, but there's the barest hint of a smile on her face.

"Hilda...in that case, I'd have voted for you," she whispers. "You're not nearly as lazy or spoiled as you want people to think you are, and you're always so good to me." Now Hilda's blushing a little.

"Aww, Marianne..." She's still holding onto her hands, Marianne fully lifting her head. She's smiling in earnest now. "I'm taking you out tonight. We'll do whatever you want to, and it's on me. You don't even have to think of it as a celebration, we can just say we're escaping the buzz about the contest."

"It's okay." Marianne squeezes her hands. "If _you_ think I deserved to win, that's reason enough to celebrate for me. And...I don't care what we do, either, as long as I'm with you."

Her smile lights up the entire cathedral, and that, in Hilda's opinion, is more than enough reason she's every inch the winner of that contest.


End file.
